@ David F. Carr, ideally this should be the case certainly but in fact it rarely happens. It's strange that the same people who have been quite friendly with us behave weirdly when we decide to shift from one place to another. Whether a working relationship or some other social relationship, if we are to depart, it's always good to end on a high note and have sweet memories.

@SaneIT, comfort and happiness in the work environment is the most important thing to consider without any doubt. Without flexible and conducive work environment any amount of money becomes immaterial because of the absence of peace of mind. But there are people in the world whose priorities are different. They prefer money to other factors.

@Dugan Savoye, one has to agree with you. If our employer is so well aware of our worth that he doesn't want to let us depart and gets ready to pay whatever he has to, why didn't he recognize that potential before the new offer. When he couldn't recognize the potential before anyone else actually did, there is no point in staying with him.

They are a $16B annual revenue privately held company. They can do things a bit differently because they don't answer to activist investors or the whims of shareholders. After being employed by publicly held companies my entire career, the last couple years have been a fantastic experience. The company values employees and customer service above all else. While everyone likes profits, they believe if they take care of employees and customers, profit will take care of itself.

That's an interesting policy; I wonder if other businesses have something similar. It also brings up how important it is to have your priorities set before you start job searching. What's your target salary? What do you want to gain from your next role? What skills do you want to improve? People who reverse their decision are are usually driven by money, it seems, which shouldn't be the deciding factor.

Well, I hope employers are reading this because I know that I've been in that situation many times. Reviews are stellar, skills are praised, pay is lower than the median for the area. I've never left a job because they didn't pay me enough but I am in that position now. I know that my employer would happily keep my pay where it is if I didn't complain. For them it's free labor and if I'm not going to complain why should they do anything about it? I'm not saying you go in every day and complain about your pay but it does need to be mentioned or your employer will just assume you are OK.

Given the hostile manner in which you were treated at the exit interview of that initial job, I am of the opinion that you absolutely did the right thing in not discussing the matter any further. There is a word for that kind of treatment: bullying. In truth, you escaped.

Generally the right thing to do is to communicate with corporate management, through proper channels (that usually means starting with your supervisor), what you would like changed and why. For it to be effective, the case has to be made as to how it benefits the company as well. Otherwise, you're just wasting everyone's time. Allow a reasonable amount of time for the request(s) to be processed to get an answer.

Regardless of policies in force, anything is negotiable - policies, rules, etc. are put in place by people. In an ideal world, they are designed to smooth operations and make things run efficiently. Nevertheless, they are considerations that can be examined again, esp. in light of a legitimate exception.

If you've gone through all that and not made enough headway to be satisfied, then it's time to move on. No counteroffer, esp. at this point, should even be considered, for reasons already mentioned in this article and the other responses here.

Even with those nearly impossible conditions, you've still possibly burned a recruiter and for sure a future prospective employer.

My current employer has a policy regarding folks who accept an offer and later reverse their decision. Such a candidate will never be considered for future employment. Perhaps not all companies are this way but I see no problem with this practice. A person's character is very important. If a candidate goes back on their word, they simply aren't a good fit for the organization regardless of their raw talent.

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